Dirty weekend is cleaner in France
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Across the Channel, they will be sniggering into their coq au vin tonight. Having long considered the British to be inferior in matters d'amour, it now emerges that we cannot even get our dirty weekends right.
When a British advertisement for Air Miles offered customers just such a weekend, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled it was "too sleazy". But yesterday it decided that the French Government Tourist Office could use the same phrase, it being in "better taste".
Using the slogan "Clean air, clean countryside, clean living - the perfect dirty weekend", the tourist office aimed to attract lovers to the Picardy region. But complainants were unhappy about the undertones of the phrase, saying it was offensive. The ASA differed and found no reason for it to be withdrawn.
The Air Miles advert featured a man and woman embracing and the headline: "Free from Air Miles: a dirty weekend that'll make her THINK you're filthy rich." It added: "We all know the way to a man's heart. The way to a woman's, however, is a little further flung." Complainants said it was "sleazy" and that it portrayed women as cheap and materialistic.
An ASA spokesman said yesterday: "It's all about the context in which it appears." But despite their "victory", the judgement does not appear to have improved French views of Anglo-Saxon attitudes. Denis Fabri, of the French Tourist Office, said: "The people who complained are probably frustrated. Offer them a dirty weekend and they would jump at it."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments